A coalition of international groups is planning a return to the gold standard in resolving the global recession. Meanwhile, a criminal network of drug cartels and financial speculators plot to convert their holdings into bullion before launching attacks against major gold depositories.

MI-6 assigns William Shanahan to disrupt Operation Blackout with the help of Jack Gawain of the Ulster Defense Association. Their target, Enrique Chupacabra, is an assassin for the Medellin cartel, coordinating a nuclear attack on American soil.

As the criminal operation moves forward with full force, Shanahan and Gawain face an array moral issues and deadly enemies. With both the USA and UK pitted against a worldwide criminal enterprise, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, they enter a race against time and insurmountable odds.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Reinhard Dizon was born and raised in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, NY. He participated in local and high school sports at Bishop Loughlin MHS, excelling in wrestling, hockey and football. The lead vocalist of the Spoiler and the Ducky Boys, he was a key figure on the Brooklyn rock scene during the Punk Revolution of the 70's. Relocating to San Antonio TX in the 80's, he moonlighted as a pro wrestler while working as a legal assistant. He successfully pursued a BA at UTSA and degrees in Korean martial arts during the 90's. He currently lives in KC MO where he is studying for his MA in English at UMKC. Mr. Dizon has been writing suspense and thriller works for over twenty-five years.

Top customer reviews

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When I started `The Standard' I knew one thing for certain - Captain William Shanahan was one confident guy. The author spends a good few paragraphs letting the reader know that Shanahan is strong, sexy, self-assured and to a large extent pretty of full of himself. It took me a few pages to get into the meat of the novel and get hooked into the character of Captain Shanahan. His remarkable past and long history of fighting the good fight and playing by the rules initially made me think that there wasn't going to be much more to the character or the story. I was wrong, very wrong!

The Standard is, if nothing else, a fantastic character study about a sexy, self-centered hero who is partnered with a callous reckless self-serving anti-hero with a complicated upbringing. Both men are compelled to work together to stop a creative and layered international terror plot for different reasons. Shanahan is looking to call this his swan song and to finally move from the field to the desk where he can begin to focus on building a real and stable life, and Gawain is compelled to participate as part of the stipulation of his release from incarceration.

Dizon does a great job painting the scenes in your mind. The words chosen for each sentence are carefully selected and very visual in nature making the story all the more real feeling. What I found most interesting was the subtle (and at times not so subtle) commentary on the small sacrifices we make to liberties in the pursuit of safety and security. Gawain and Shanahan are given an eerie amount of latitude with how far MI6 is willing to let them go into the grey to stop the terrorist's plot. This ethical flexibility and the resultant personal stances that are taken is what precipitates much of the most interesting character arc moments.

Thankfully, The Standard is more than just a masterful think-piece it is also a really captivating fly by the seat of your pants action story that would make Ian Fleming blush. Once Shanahan and Gawain are thrown together you quickly realize that this is a compelling, action-packed story that keeps you wanting to read more. The dialogue is equal parts wry wit and yet easily approachable. The dialects are well represented and I found myself easily reading with the appropriate accent in my mind. This was definitely a big plus.

The Standard is a thoroughly compelling read with some very interesting commentaries on personal ethics and morality and what we as a society are willing to sacrifice in the name of safety. You'll find yourself wondering where you would draw the line. The Standard is conceptually solid, and well worth the read for any fans of action/adventure and suspense. Once you are 10 pages in you will find yourself treated to a thoroughly enjoyable read and glad that you took the time pick up `The Standard'

The book is a James Bond style thriller but with grit rather than glamour. Instead of the glamorous Bond girl, we have a girl in an ancient car that she has let run out of gas. There is plenty of action intended to thrill rather than convince, a sequence of international bad guys, a variety of well-described different settings, and an insurmountable problem that our heroes will deal with. The problem is a call for a return to the gold standard, hence the title, and some traders in Canada see a huge opportunity: gold will make a huge increase in price, so if they can acquire enough, they make a killing. The biggest source of cash is the various drug cartels, so the plan is to use the drug money to buy gold, hold it, then make heaps when the price of gold revalues. (In one book that I reviewed, an economist put the necessary price of gold as about $70,000 an ounce.) The traders invite representatives of the major drug cartels to a meeting where they will sell their plan. The UK government decides to spike this plan, first by infiltrating the group by selling several tonnes of gold to them, then causing war between the cartels. We then see a sequence of assassinations, murders, urban terrorism, massive swindling, betrayal of one's own side for convenience, and this only from the so-called "good guys".

There are two major characters. Jack Gawain starts off serving a life sentence in Maghaberry prison for his activities in the Ulster Defence Association. Bombings, killings, interrogations, no conscience problems with him, nevertheless he is possibly the most likeable character in this book. He is offered his freedom if he will use his talents to bring the cartels to warring with each other. He accepts, but he does not really believe the freedom will come, so he has an added agenda of setting himself up by acquiring spare sacks of currency from those he kills. The other character is William Shanahan, who is a sort of narcissist James Bond. Some of the minor characters are also reasonably well drawn, although they tend not to last very long.

If you are looking for action, this book has it in spades, and in many places, it is somewhat surprising and imaginative. Rather than a casino scene, we have a million dollar dominoes tournament! The author has thrown an enormous amount of plot into this book, there is never a dull moment, and the author can certainly write action scenes. Hardly a candidate for a Booker prize, but I could see a high octane (in one scene, literally!) movie made from it.